Patience Is a Virtue – 5/11/16

Sometimes when whale watching we come across a pod that may be a bit quieter than others, this morning a young female and her calf were keeping a low profile and spending their morning logging.

After a while they would resurface and replenish their oxygen levels before returning back to a depth of 10-20 meters for another snooze but never moving very far away. As the saying goes, patience is a virtue and just as we were about to leave mother and calf to continue resting guess who popped up on our port side to say hello!

Having spent time with our vessel the female recognised that we were not a threat to her or her calf and they both enjoyed having a very good look at everyone onboard as they slowly moved past. She was that close we were all covered in “whale kisses” as she exhaled and we could see all of the little scars on the young calf caused by the close contact with mum and her many barnacles.

A few other pods were also sighted further away and seemed to also be enjoying some recoup time as the mothers feed their calves and prepare them for the next step of their journey back towards Antarctica.

Resting periods during this southern migration are vitally important to the survival of these young calves and a female can easily spend anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days in the resting grounds feeding her baby and allowing him to replenish his energy reserves. A magnificently warm day out on the water this morning and always a privilege to spend some time with these beautiful mothers and calves and gain their trust and friendship